Children were the driving force behind improvements to the play area at Lake Bluff Elementary School.
On Sept. 16, LBES hosted a brief dedication ceremony celebrating its new playground at the school for District 65’s prekindergarten through fifth grade students.
The ceremony completed a project started approximately a year ago by District 65 officials who decided it was time for changes at the playground for the sake of all the children.
“We had some students who were not going to be able to physically access all of the playgrounds because of physical challenges,” District 65 Superintendent Lisa Leali recalled. “We knew we were going to have to upgrade the playground to make it more accessible.”
With the decision made, District 65 sought student perspectives on what specific changes should be made given they are the ones who will be utilizing the playground.
“Our enrichment team pulled together a task force of a group of six fifth graders to help answer the guiding question on what changes could be made to our playground to make it fun and accessible to our entire LBES community,” Principal Kellie Bae explained.
LBES enrichment specialists gauged which students would be best on the task force leading to the appointment of Richard Aguilar Vasquez, Annabelle Daniels, Eloise Henkel, Griffin MacMillan, Beverly Sanderson and Abigail Soprych, who are now all sixth graders at Lake Bluff Middle School.
As part of the process, the students had an assignment of reading a book about people facing physical challenges, and they needed to get familiar with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
Also as part of the research, the students watched videos of playgrounds at other schools to see what options existed for improvements.
Once that was completed, a survey was distributed to 140 third to fifth graders asking about equipment preferences, in combination with interviews with District 65 officials as they researched what type of equipment was available to purchase.
“They have a different eye, that all people should be able to enjoy all spaces. They had a strong impact on what decisions were made, and I hope that feels empowering,” Bae said.
Their findings were presented to the District 65 school board in January, as members approved $140,000 for the project. The Illinois State Board of Education provided another $50,000 through a grant, according to Leali.
“Their presentations were clear, they were well researched, they made a lot of sense and they weren’t impractical,” Leali said. “I was incredibly impressed on how they went about it presenting it and communicating it.”
In April, a similar presentation was made to the local PTO, which then funded games and stencils for the front of the building that are set to be in place at some point during the school year.
With the funds, the playground now features two new spinners, a Rock n’ Ring panel where the goal is to help with music creativity, plus more accessible ground cover and additional shade.
“I just feel everything fits,” Bae said.
As part of the upgrade, a long-standing rock climbing wall that Bae sensed was dangerous and underused was removed.
The installation of the new equipment occurred over the summer, leading to the Sept. 16 ceremony at the school where approximately 550 children attend.
“It exemplifies the mission and the vision of the district that we want to create a space that is safe and engaging for our students every day,” Leali said. “The process of doing it with our students and with student input — and with students as leaders — also reflects what we are looking to do as a district which is to collaborate with kids on what is meaningful for them.”
